(oh how): The above accusative construction is called تعجب ‎(taʿajjub, “amazement”) in Arabic. According to traditional grammar, if a nominative were used in the example above (mā ʾajmalu l-ḥayāh), it would turn into a question meaning: “What is the most beautiful kind of life?” Like all case distinctions in modern standard Arabic, of course, this distinction is not strictly followed and the difference may be lost on a majority of native speakers.